As the new year dawns, few industries are more dynamic and challenging than the death-care landscape. All around we see experimentation and change in a time when the future of funeral service is evolving. As we begin 2018, we asked some of the death care’s top experts and innovators to share their predictions for the year ahead. Here, they share their visions of the future of cremation, education, memorialization, technology and more.

When someone mentions higher education, no one instantly thinks of online courses and distance education programs. Nevertheless, we are rapidly entering a new era in which our economy, our higher education institutions, and our societal structures experience a profound accelerated digital transformation. In this new era of the world-wide web, internet- powered innovation, artificial intelligence, going paperless, drones, smartphones, robotics, big data, and software algorithms, our society is impacted in a strategic and prioritized way by leveraging organizational activities, processes, and competencies.